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Taisei Kōki
Taisei Kōki K.K. (大成光機 ) was a Japanese camera maker based in Itabashi, Tokyo in the 1950s. The address was Tōkyō-to Itabashi-ku Itabashi-chō 3–481 (東京都板橋区板橋町3の481) from 1952 to 1957 and Tōkyō-to Itabashi-ku Kumano-chō 45 (東京都板橋区板橋町3の481) in 1958 and 1959. Source: advertisements reproduced in , pp.120 and 223. The company was created in May 1949 by the merge of Narimasu Kōki (成増光機) and Daiyū Kōgaku (大由光学). Company profile of Konica Minolta Electronics, and Yazawa, p.12 of no.247. (The name "Taisei" 大成 was formed of the first characters of the two former company names.) The company may have at least some distant relation to the company Fuji Kōgaku which existed until 1945. Tanaka, p.44, and this page at Japan Family Camera, say that Fuji Kōgaku was split in two parts after the war: Taisei Kōki and Katsuma Kōgaku, with the latter keeping the Lyra brand name. This is not entirely accurate, though. (Taisei Kōki notably used the same Terionar brand name as the former Fuji Kōgaku.) All three companies Fuji Kōgaku, Katsuma Kōgaku and Taisei Kōki used the Terionar lens name, and they have similar logos, showing a cemented doublet lens scheme, with a protuberance on top, maybe an allusion to Mount Fuji. The logo used by Taisei Kōki on the Welmy range is written TAISEI WELMY. All the shares of the company were bought in August 1960 by Konishiroku. By the time, the company had ceased to sell cameras under its own name. In 1968, it moved from Itabashi to a new factory in the city of Tsuru (都留市, prefecture of Yamanashi). In 1972, the company name was turned into K.K. Yamanashi Konica ( 山梨コニカ). In 1983, this was split into K.K. Konica Denshi ( コニカ電子, Konica Electronics) and other sub-companies. Company profile of Konica Minolta Electronics and company profile of Konica Minolta Opto Products. The company Konica Minolta Electronics Co., Ltd., distant descendent of Taisei Kōki, is still installed in the Tsuru factory. Company profile of Konica Minolta Electronics. 35mm film cameras * Welmy * Welmy 35 * Welmy 35 M-2 / Kalimar A / Westomat 35 * Welmy 35 M-3 * Welmy Wide / Star Lite * Super Welmy 35 * Super Westomat 35 120 film cameras 6×6cm folding * Welmy Six * Welmy Six E * Welmy Six L * Mount Six * Mount Six III 6×6cm TLR * Welmy Flex 127 film cameras * Welmy 44 (4×4cm rangefinder) Notes Source / further reading * * Tanaka Masao (田中政雄). Nihon no niganrefu: Zenpen (日本の二眼レフ：前編, The TLRs of Japan, vol.1). Tokyo: Asahi Sonorama, 1983. ISBN 4-257-08088-4 * Yazawa Seiichirō (矢沢征一郎). "Renzu no hanashi (157) Happī" (レンズの話157ハッピー, Lens story 157 The Happy). In no.247 (January 1998). Nishinomiya: Camera Collectors News-sha. Pp.11–4. (On the creation and fate of Taisei Kōki. This contains the exact same information as in the official history of Konica Minolta Electronics.) Links In English: * Taisei Koki at Pocketable History by J. Noir In Spanish: * Taisei-Koki at Historia de Bolsillo by J. Noir In French: * Taisei cameras at www.collection-appareils.fr In Japanese: * Company profile of Konica Minolta Electronics Co., Ltd. and company profile of Konica Minolta Opto Products Co., Ltd. * Welmy 35 at AEI Collectibles Taisei Koki